purcell. the 20 year old chinese debutant is above the five sessions. the belgian who knocked out ronnie o sullivan in the court is really lost his cool in the ninth frame. look at that. he is well on course for the final. from the returns this weekend after a four week break. qualifying is currently under way for sunday s azerbaijan grand prix. there is also a sprint race on saturday with qualifying for that on the same day. away from the track there has been driver speculation with ferrari shallow clay has refused to rule out a move to mercedes next year but that could depend on how they contract talks go with the seven time world champion lewis hamilton. he says he loves his team and has been reassured by the progress mercedes have made since he finished second at the australian grand prix at the start of the month. it grand prix at the start of the month. , , ., ., ., month. it will be the start of a new ath for month. it will be the start of a new path for us- month. i
welcome to the programme. it was budget day here in britain today. a big set piece annual event in which the chancellor stairs into the crystal ball, and tries to predict the future and how best to steer the uk economy through it. the obstacles in his way are common to europe and the united states. high inflation, higher interest rates, and since the pandemic, an intractably acute labour shortage. this graph trackjob vacancies across europe since august 2022, historically high after the pandemic, but you will see the uk, the red line at the very top, is struggling more than most. with 1.1 million vacancies. if more people are employed, more people are paying tax. the good news for the chancellor is that the uk will swerve recession this year thanks to growth returning by the summer. but the economy will still contract by 0.2%. and any brighter news, is tempered by slower growth over the long term. mr hunt said the uk would only grow by 1.8% next year and byjust 2.5% in 2025
the school district in uvalde has suspended its entire police force responsible for campus security. at ten o clock, reeta chakrabarti will be here with a full round up of the day s news. first, newscast. newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello. it s chris in the streets in south london. james cook, scotland editor, here in the studio. and it s alex forsyth, also in the studio. so, chris, you are currently in a street, but you ve just come back from the labour and conservative conferences. i m amazed you re still standing, albeit in a street. i mean, how were they? what was your take on the whole thing? it s a little smidgeon, alex, of domestic kind of decompression between two of the conferences, labour and conservative, and then the snp, which i m heading to tomorrow. and then there s still the tuc, the trades union congress, rearranged after the mourning period to come, a little after that. how were they? they were both extraordinary and for completely opposite reasons. so,
Reaction. We will always be there by your side, the words of Antony Blinken as he reaffirms americas support to israel but one precautions need to be taken to avoid harming civilians of every nationality. He said he will send defence support after meeting israels Prime Minister during a visit to tel aviv. Media has said the number of those killed since the attacks by the Palestinian Militant Group hamas has risen to 1300. Western governments have designated hamas as a terrorist organisation. 25 americans are known to have died. It comes as air strikes in gaza have continued with the Health Ministry there saying more than 1300 people have been killed. Israel says the siege on gaza would not end until hostages are released. The International Committee of the red cross has warned Hospital Generators could run out of fuel after the only Power Station in gaza run out of fuel. Antony blinken is due to meet palestinian leaders on friday where he will push diplomatic efforts to end the fightin